Zacatecas

Zacatecas is the state of silver and Baroque art: its capital, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993, is a pink city built in the depths of a ravine where the mining wealth of the 17th and 18th centuries materialized in churches of such ornate decoration that they put many European cathedrals to shame. The façade of Zacatecas Cathedral is considered the supreme example of Churrigueresque Baroque in Mexico.

The silver mines of Zacatecas financed the Spanish Empire for over two centuries: it is estimated that 20% of all silver extracted in the world during the colonial era came from these mountains. The El Edén Mine, now traversable by wooden train, descends 120 meters beneath the city and allows visitors to understand the brutal scale of the mining work that built the opulence visible on the surface.

Cerro de la Bufa, with its 18th-century chapel and cable car overlooking the city, and Cerro del Grillo offer the most dramatic views of Zacatecan architecture. The Zacatecano museum houses one of the richest collections of colonial art in northern Mexico.

Zacatecas was also the site of the most important battle of the Mexican Revolution: on June 23, 1914, Pancho Villa's troops took the city in 12 hours, in the battle considered decisive for the triumph of the constitutionalist forces over Victoriano Huerta's federal army.